Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Although it has ceased to be headline news, Japan's struggle to cope with a nuclear nightmare continues. Recent forecasts are that it will take many more months for the stricken power plant at Fukushima to be brought under control. Meanwhile, the cost to the Japanese economy of rebuilding homes and infrastructure destroyed by the earthquake and the resulting tsunami is now estimated at 25 trillion yen, or approximately $300 billion.

The situation in Japan has given us a sobering reminder of the dark side of technology. The misery and suffering that many ordinary Japanese people are now experiencing are an example of the potentially terrible consequences of technology gone wrong. No American who lives anywhere near a nuclear power station can have failed to wonder whether a similar catastrophe might some day befall the United States.

But it's truly an ill wind that blows nobody any good. There is much that we in the west can learn from Japan, if our minds are open to it. The Japanese people have given the world an object lesson in how to behave in the face of adversity.

Japan is a very different society from western countries, where individualism is considered a virtue and conflict.is looked upon as a healthy feature of the democratic system. Unlike Americans, the Japanese prize order and conformity and collective solutions and consensus. The result is a society in which orderliness is the norm and stoicism is admired.

The evidence of Japanese orderliness is plain to see at any time. But the depth of the Japanese character traits that underlie that orderliness are most apparent when the country is under the kind of stress which it now feels. In other countries that suffer calamities on an equivalent scale, mass violence and despair are typical reactions. The response of the Japanese to their current situation has been one of dogged determination to see it through and to accept with equanimity whatever will be necessary to overcome it.

I wish I could believe that people in the West, Americans in particular, will learn from Japan's plight and be changed by it for the better but I cannot be that optimistic. The biggest question is not whether Japan will recover from the blow it has been dealt - it certainly will - but whether we who look upon events there from afar will learn anything at all from the lesson that is now available to us.

Those who pray for Japan during its hour of need are to be commended. Better yet to pray for our own country while it has the opportunity to learn from the misfortunes of another. In the years to come, the consequences of climate change and global warming are likely to test us at least as significantly as Japan is being tested today. A day will come when we will need every ounce of national character that we can muster.
Writer: Richard Teasdale

Thursday, May 19, 2011

His first owner also did not think that he could survive and he was thinking of 'putting him to sleep'.But then, his present owner, Jude Stringfellow, met him and wanted to take care of him. She became determined to teach and train this little dog to walk by himself.
She named him 'Faith'.

In the beginning, she put Faith on a surfboard to let him feel the movement.
Later she used peanut butter on a spoon as a lure and reward for him for standing up and jumping around.

Even the other dog at home encouraged him to walk.
Amazingly, only after 6 months, like a miracle,
Faith learned to balance on his hind legs and to jump to move forward.
After further training in the snow, he could now walk like a human being.

Faith loves to walk around now.
No matter where he goes, he attracts people to him.
He is fast becoming famous on the international scene and has appeared on various newspapers and TV shows.
There is now a book entitled 'With a Little Faith' being published about him.
He was even considered to appear in one of Harry Potter movies.

His present owner Jude Stringfellew has given up her teaching post and plans to take him around the world to preach that even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul'.

In life there are always undesirable things, so in order to feel better you just need to look at life from another direction.

I hope this message will bring fresh new ways of thinking to everyone and that everyone will appreciate and be thankful for each beautiful day.

Faith is the continual demonstration of the strength and wonder of life.

A small request: All you are asked to do is keep this story circulating.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Below is a special message from renowned Japanese
Scientist who brought attention to the power of thought/prayer
on water crystals. He has a special request for assistance
tomorrow noon...

To All People Around the World,

Please send your prayers of love and gratitude to water at
the nuclear plants in Fukushima, Japan!

By the massive earthquakes of Magnitude 9 and surreal
massive tsunamis, more than 10,000 people are still
missing...even now... It has been 16 days already since
the disaster happened. What makes it worse is that water
at the reactors of Fukushima Nuclear Plants started to
leak, and it's contaminating the ocean, air and water
molecules of the surrounding areas.

Human wisdom has not been able to do much to solve the
problem, but we are only trying to cool down the anger of
radioactive materials in the reactors by discharging water
to them.

Is there really nothing else to do?

I think there is. During over twenty year research of hado
measuring and water crystal photographic technology, I
have been witnessing that water can turn positive when
it receives pure vibration of human prayer no matter how
far away it is.

Energy formula of Albert Einstein, E=MC2 really means that Energy = number of people and the square of people's consciousness.

Now is the time to understand the true meaning. Let us all join
the prayer ceremony as fellow citizens of the planet earth.

I would like to ask all people, not just in Japan, but all around
the world to please help us to find a way out the crisis of this
planet.

The prayer procedure is as follows...

Name of ceremony:
"Let's send our thoughts of love and gratitude to all water
in the nuclear plants in Fukushima"

Day and Time:
March 31st, 2011 (Thursday)
12:00 noon in each time zonePlease say the following phrase:"The water of Fukushima Nuclear Plant, we are sorry to
make you suffer. Please forgive us. We thank you, and
we love you." Please say it aloud or in your mind.

Repeat it three times as you put your hands together in a prayer position. Please offer your sincere prayer.

During their presentation on Wednesday evening March 16th, three staff members of the Family Centers offered reflections on “Living With Grief.” They emphasized that, unlike healing after breaking a bone, healing from a broken heart does not progress in a predictable pattern. Different people grieve in different ways; indeed there is no preferable way to cope with feelings of loss. People coping with loss normally have a wide range of feelings: sometimes sadness at the loss of a loved one, sometimes relief that their loved one is no longer suffering; sometimes fatigue; sometimes loneliness; sometimes anger; other times guilt.

You have the right to experience your own grief. No one else will grieve in exactly the same way as you do. So, when you turn to others for help, don’t let them tell you what you should or should not be feeling.

You have the right to talk about your grief. Talking about your grief will help you heal. Seek out others who will allow you to talk as much as you want, as often as you want, about your grief. If at times you don’t feel like talking, you also have the right to be silent.

You have the right to feel a multitude of emotions. Confusion, disorientation, fear, guilt and relief are just a few of the emotions you might feel as part of your grief journey. Others may try to tell you that feeling angry, for example is wrong. Don’t take these judgmental responses to heart. Instead, find listeners who will accept your feelings without condition.

You have the right to be tolerant of your physical and emotional limits.

Your feelings of loss and sadness will probably leave you feeling fatigued. Respect what your body and mind are telling you. Get daily rest. East balanced meals. And don’t allow others to push you into doing things you don’t feel ready to do.

5. You have the right to experience “griefbursts.” Sometimes, out of nowhere, a powerful surge of grief may overcome you. This can be frightening, but it is normal and natural. Find someone who understands and will let you talk it out.

You have the right to make use of ritual. The funeral ritual does more than acknowledge the death of someone loved. It helps provide you with the support of caring people. More importantly, the funeral is a way for you to mourn. If others tell you the funeral or other healing rituals such as these are silly or unnecessary, don’t listen.

You have the right to embrace your spirituality. Allow yourself to be around people who understand and support your religious beliefs. If you feel angry at God, find someone to talk with who won’t be critical of your feelings of hurt and abandonment.

You have the right to search for meaning. You may find yourself asking, “Why did he or she die? Why this way? Why now?” Some of your questions may have answers, but some may not. And watch out for the clichéd responses some people may give you. Comments like, “It was God’s will” or “Think of what you have to be thankful for” are not helpful and you do not have to accept them.

You have the right to treasure your memories. Memories are one of the best legacies that exist after the death of someone loved. You will always remember. Instead of ignoring your memories, find others with whom you can share them.

You have the right to move toward your grief and heal. Reconciling your grief will not happen quickly. Remember, grief is a process. Not an event. Be patient and tolerant with yourself and avid people who are impatient and intolerant with you.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

With the passing of another year you can take the time to think about how far you have come as students and individuals. And, understandably you are probably wondering where you will fit in as part of our society. You have a lot to be proud of. I could write about all the challenges facing your generation but you know them. The media has been filling your head with it since you were babies. You will handle it. It’s the progress that you have made that puts you far ahead of your predecessors in terms of attitude, acceptance and life outlook. Commencements afford us a brief moment to examine what you have accomplished.
Your generation has earned your diploma not just because of what you learned but what you taught the rest of us. You taught us that it is not too late to make the changes that will save our planet. As long as you are alive it’s never too late. You taught us that living in fear is NOT living. Fear exists in all of us but it does not define us. You thanked a veteran and you questioned war. Your generation has little use for the word “Normal”. Normal is only useful when it pertains to health. Your body should have a “normal” temperature of 98.6, and sure, you should have blood pressure with the “normal” range. But that is where it ends. It is you who taught us that uniqueness makes us creative, inspired, and ultimately powerful.
For these lessons I thank you. And perhaps you can indulge me as I impart some lessons that I have learned.

Maintain good credit. One of the greatest gifts you have been given, as a child of the free world, is the ability to make positive change for yourself based on little more than your past ability to pay for the things you bought.

Learn all you can about our country’s past and take an interest in our government. Maybe that means running for office, reading more, or just watching CSPAN every now and then.

Use spell check

Don’t listen to those who tell you we lost our way.

Be generous with your time. Giving money is nice. It takes only seconds to write a check. But some of my most valuable life lessons came while volunteering.

Accept who you are. You are the only one living your life.

When in a meeting listen, don’t just wait for your turn to talk. Keep in mind some of the best ideas have come from unlikely places.

Much of our fear and ignorance comes from our parents. Reject it. It will set you free. But do not blame or resent your parents for that fear. They were just doing the best they could. You mean everything to them.

As you land that first job and begin building a career, many of you will begin to consider starting a family. When that time comes, understand the power you have in shaping your Children’s perspective. Teach them tolerance. Teach them to educate themselves on a subject before making snap judgments. Let them know that God does not care whether you work on Wall Street or build walls or whether make your living turning a wrench or turning a phrase. Let them know that nothing in the schoolyard that is relevant later on. So it does not matter if you are great at doge ball or you throw like a girl or dress like one. Help them understand it’s not important whom you fall in love with. What is important is that you have love to give in the first place. Love is not a zero sum, it is paradoxical in fact, because the more you give away the more you have.
So continue to astound us. Go out there and live, love, earn, make mistakes and leave this world a more, selfless and compassionate place then the one you entered.
By Stacy Hathaway

With high unemployment and a sluggish economy, opportunity is a word on many people’s minds. Is it out there? How do you get it?
As much as we try, so little of what happens for us is due to our actions. Our fortunes are nothing more than the sum of our talent, timing and opportunities. Oprah Winfrey would disagree. In a recent interview with Simon Cowell she insisted that people make their opportunities. Oprah is wrong. (Oh yeah, I went there) Well, mostly wrong. That is in my opinion a lazy conclusion; a mistake many people make by looking at “success stories” and work backwards. The problem is that it discounts the nameless millions of people whom, with possibly even more talent, perseverance and hard work, have little to show for it. By definition, these individuals are anonymous. So we ignore them. Then we focus on that group of individuals whom had that rare combination of perfect timing and the right talent. But what’s worse about assuming that people are lacking success because of something they are not doing is that it places blame squarely on them.
So what do we do with this info? The first thing we need to stop is giving so much undeserved credibility to people who have amassed great wealth. I like Warren Buffet, I think he is good guy and I would even go so far as to say he is something of a role model based on his philanthropic endeavors and his ability to put his staggering wealth into perspective. I do not, however, think he has much to contribute to you and me in terms of advice on how to be a success. Mr. Buffet was successful because he possesses a specific set of skills that worked during a specific period of time. There is growing evidence in fact that those times have changed. The second thing might be to place less emphasis on our own chosen path. It’s great to have goals; actually it’s critical. But the older I get the more I can see there is no such thing as a chosen path. Like Yogi Berra said “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Life is a series of different options. After you take that path, only you can decide that it was the wrong decision. So… don’t. Be confident in your choices and do your best to live without regrets.
Many years ago, in another life, it seems, I worked in sales. The company I worked for sent me to many sales seminars during the time that I worked for them. One of these “Gurus” really had an impact on me (although not enough for me to remember his name). Much of his advice focused on staying positive. He said, “Folks, if I’m going down in flames I’m going’ down with a smile on my face”. His point being, that much of life is chance so chose to be happy. And why the heck not?
So don’t be concerned about that big break that you are still waiting for. A bad luck streak, like good luck, doesn’t last. Keep waiting, working, and doing your best but if the big “it” never happens that’s OK too.
By Stacy Hathaway

What does it mean to have the power of believing in you? This process begins with getting to know "who you are", "what you are about", and "why you are here" to begin with. It also has to do with learning how to live your life too. Sometimes it takes many years of maturity to understand the power that is within your heart as well as going through the struggles of growing up as a person. But where do we begin this journey if we don’t understand what it takes to walk through the process of life?
The steps to recognize the power within starts in the "heart and soul" of where life is felt from the time we are raised by our families as well as the walking through the steps of our emotional and mental well-being. It’s learning to recognize the existence of how we feel and live each moment through our hardships and struggles in life. Sometimes it can be a long process to recognize over the years.
The lessons that we learn through life helps us to recognize the weaknesses of characteristics within the core of our own inner being. It also begins with learning to know and understand what its like to have faith in something that we believe in tremendously which helps us to realize the direction we will take in our daily lives.
Sometimes we lose track of going in so many directions at once and don’t know what should come first. Sometimes we don’t understand why we take so many short steps and then fumble down constantly. It’s not a pleasant experience to keep spinning the wheels of our lives in many directions until we are confused and disturbed about why life is putting us on the edge of our seats. Then we are sitting back and asking questions daily, “why am I so miserable”, "what am I doing wrong that life is throwing these “curve balls” in my direction?
There is so much to learn about life when it comes to the power of believing in yourself. My spiritual journey in life came from the hardships and losses of life that isn’t pleasant to handle. The struggles of learning about self-esteem, self-love, self-worth, trust, honor, respect, co-dependence and dysfunction and many other areas helped me to overcome and understand so much about my life. This helped my life grow so much about when I began this journey in life.
My relationship with “God” also kept me in the right direction of my life. Anytime I was at cross-roads with my life, I would continue to ask “God” daily where I should be. Even though I am 52 years old now, I am still continuing to ask questions. The spiritual journey within our precious “heart and soul” is the most powerful gift that a human can love and appreciate about themselves when the inner turmoil has passed. It’s a never ending process through the years we live our lives with the universe and how we handle the problems as they come.
By Cheryl Scheinin

I’m not sure who coined the phrase “happiness is a choice” but choosing happiness is a skill that is in my opinion one of the most important in life. If you lose your job you can chose to look at the opportunity life just presented to you. If you go through a difficult breakup (are any ever easy?) just think of how much you learned from this last relationship an how your next romance will be that much better. If only it were that easy. The reason I use the word skill is because at its core that’s exactly what it is. No one likes mind games, but sometimes I find that you must in a sense trick yourself to avoid the pitfalls of gloom. So here are a few things that I do to keep myself cheerful even in the face of trials tribulations and miscellaneous adversity.

Start your morning with exercise while listening to happy upbeat music. Exercise relives stress and releases endorphins that make you feel better. The song that you listen too is equally important. Chose something up-tempo with a positive message. This morning DJ Stacy served up a little “Happy” by the Rolling tones. That song never ceases to make me happy no matter how many times I hear it.

Plan something. It turns out, according to research, that the anticipation of a fun event is more intense than the event itself. Planning a vacation or a fun night with your friends several weeks in advance is a great way to put a little more spring in your step.

Catch some Rays. Living here in Connecticut, the winters are long and sunny days from November to April are few and far between. I make a point of visiting the beach or working outside on those rare days when the sun is peaking through the endless New England clouds. Sunlight produces vitamin D and vitamin D deficiencies have been linked to depression so a few rays a day will keep the winter blues away.

Get a pet. It’s widely known that people with dogs or cats live longer because time with a pet reduces stress. I have both just to be safe. Recent studies have shown that time spent petting your dog or cat releases chemicals that a mother’s body creates while breastfeeding. These chemicals help a mother bond with her baby and create a somewhat euphoric feeling.

Avoid unnecessary negativity. This one can be tough. It is our civic duty to stay informed about politics and world events but the news is also filled with horror that just doesn’t pertain to anyone but those directly involved and therefore serves only to bring you down. Where it is really tricky is when it comes to friends. We all have that friend who is so negative about everything. The one who can find something wrong in every situation. I know a few, and I have no choice but to limit my time with them. In an extreme case I have even had to disconnect completely. Difficult, especially if you have a long past together but your survival, in a sense, depends on it.

By Stacy HathawayThe most important thing though is to remain positive no matter what. Morn when you have to, be sad when you have to, but remember if you are still here things will get better but only if that is the energy you put out there. Think of negative thoughts as bacteria invading your brain. You have the power to make them go away. Even if it means saying out loud “I will not let this get to me!” Your survival depends on it.